


the truth is (the stars are falling babe)

by newtbooty



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, there's a line which could be possibly interpreted as lashton, this has no plotline i'm soryr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 04:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5077786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtbooty/pseuds/newtbooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m a practical thinker!” Ashton insists. “You could at least try. What’s the harm in trying?”</p><p>“Heartbreak.” Michael answers, voice monotone. “Eternal misery. Destruction of the band. Two albums worth of teenage angst.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	the truth is (the stars are falling babe)

**Author's Note:**

> this is literally noThing it's just them being a Bit Stupid About Feelings which isn't really surprising i haven't wrote in months so my characterization is probably The Worst please don't smite me also the formatting is kind of weird so that's fun  
> title from ease by troye sivan which has no real connection to this fic other than it kind of reminds me of malum

“So,” Ashton says, throwing himself down onto the couch next to Michael. “You and Calum.”

 Michael looks up from his phone, raises an eyebrow. “Me and Calum what?”

 “’You’re more of a Kiss Me, Kiss Me kind of guy.’” Ashton parrots, adopting a ridiculously low tone and adding in some eyebrow wiggles for affect. “There are better ways to flirt with people than through song titles, you know.”

Michael splutters a little. “I wasn’t-that wasn’t-what are you even talking about?”

 “It’s not just that either.” Ashton barrels on, barely acknowledging Michael’s response. “This entire week you guys have just been so-so weird. Are you sure you aren’t secretly dating Calum?”

 “I was answering an interview question, what was I supposed to do, not speak? Wait, how have we been acting weird?”

 Ashton shakes his head, an amused look on his face. “You really haven’t noticed, have you?”

 “No!” Michael insists, stomach swirling uneasily. Sure, he’s always had a minor crush on Calum, but for most of the time he’s able to put it aside and focus on more important things. “We were just being normal friends. We’ve always been like that. _All_ of us have always been like that.”

 “Yeah but,” Ashton pauses, seeming to struggle for words. “It’s always been a joke. It’s always very obvious it’s a joke. I don’t know how much Calum’s joking anymore.”

Michael fiddles with one of the bracelets adorning his wrist. “It’s not a thing. We’re not-I wish we were, but we’re not. Together, I mean.”

 Ashton squeezes his shoulder. “You could always, you know, try asking him out. I mean, he offered to take you out, I doubt he’ll say no.” Michael just glares at him, but Ashton continues on. “Come on, it’s not like anything truly terrible will happen.” Michael snorts. “No, seriously! The worst thing you could do is not ask, and the next thing you know is you’re forty and unhappily married to some random person and thinking, damn, maybe if I’d taken Ashton’s advice and asked out Calum I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

 “You certainly like to plan ahead, don’t you? “

 “I’m a practical thinker!” Ashton insists. “You could at least try. What’s the harm in trying?”

 “Heartbreak.” Michael answers, voice monotone. “Eternal misery. Destruction of the band. Two albums worth of teenage angst.”

 “Or, a lifetime of happiness and joy with a guy who you’ve been in love with for almost ten years.”

 “I haven’t even known I liked boys for ten years! You’ve only known me for four!”

 “Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but seriously. Could you live with yourself if you knew you’d never even attempted to make something of this? Could you?”

 "No.” Michael mutters sullenly. “But you need to just-I’ll do things in my own time, okay?”

 Ashton nods, claps him on the shoulder and grins. Michael smiles back, because he’s pretty sure it’s scientifically impossible not to when Ashton’s dimples appear. Or Calum’s, now that he’s thinking about it. And now he’s just thinking about Calum. If you ever needed a reminder on how pathetic Michael is, this is it.

 

***

 

Nothing much changes, except Michael is slightly more conscious of how he is around Calum, and he now constantly spots Ashton eying them every time they’re within a five-metre radius of each other. It’s kind of uncomfortable.

 One time they’re relaxing on a couch after an interview, and Calum places his head on Michael’s lap, curls his legs towards his chest. Michael absentmindedly runs a hand through his hair, taking care at the back of his scalp like he knows Calum likes. The soft, pleased noises Calum starts to make would indicate that he definitely still likes it.

 Ashton proceeds to text him multiple screencaps of Shia Lebouf screaming, “Just do it!”. Michael would like to throttle whoever it was who decided to introduce Ashton to memes.

 And, okay, since he’s stepped back and looked objectively at their relationship, it is kind of clear how Ashton thought that they were secretly dating. They say things to each other that could easily be misconstrued as flirting. Calum _did_ reveal that they’ve chosen to share a bed before. He can’t exactly see it, but he knows that the way he looks at Calum is probably disgustingly fond. How is he not supposed to be fond? Calum’s one of the best, if not the best, people he knows, _and_ he’s one of the most important people in Michael’s life.

 It’s not that he’s trying to deny his feelings for Calum. He knows they’re there. They’ve been there since he was fourteen years old, which is part of the problem. He’s known Calum for so long, and he knows it’s stereotypical and what every rom com protagonist says before they inevitably end up dating the person they love, but he really doesn’t want to ruin his friendship with Calum. It’s about more than just his personal feelings, either. If things go wrong, and it does get awkward or painful, it’d be terrible for the fans and the band, and Michael really cannot deal with letting people down. He needs a neutral party to talk to, someone who will be able to help him figure out every aspect of the scenario without adding any bias.

 He calls his mum.

 He decides that there’s really no time to waste, so he tries to cut down on the amount of greetings and small talk by almost immediately saying: “I have a problem.”

 

“What?”

 

“Okay, that kind of came out wrong.” He sighs. “I have-I have a hypothetical question for you.”

 

“Oh. Well, what is this hypothetical question?”

 

“Say you had a friend. A friend who you’d known for a really long time. You two spend a lot of time together, you work together, you even occasionally live together. But then you start to like this friend in a not so friendly way, and you think that they might like _you_ in a not so friendly way, but the only way you can find that out is by potentially ruining your friendship and messing up everything that you’ve worked to achieve in your life.”

 

“That sounds dramatic.”

 

“This completely hypothetical situation is incredibly dramatic. It’s very draining on the hypothetical people hypothetically involved.”

 

“Well, _hypothetically,_ I would want to know how the other person felt. If I was really serious about the person, I couldn’t live in such a massive state of ‘what if?’”

 

“So, you would tell the friend about how you felt?”

“Yes. Even if you do risk things, you’re gaining something no matter how the situation turns out.”

 

“How are you gaining something if they reject you?”

 

“You get closure. You get certainty. You won’t go through your life wondering what would have happened if you had done something.”

 

“Have you and Ashton been talking recently?”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing. So, telling the friend _is_ the best solution?”

 

“It’s all up to opinion, dear. But, if you want my opinion, you should go for it. Whoever it is, if it’s who I think it is, they won’t say no.”

 

“Thanks, mum.”

 

“Any time, sweetheart.”

 

“Wait, ‘if it’s who I think it is’?”

 

“I’m sorry dear, I have to go, your dad just called for dinner. Bye!”

 

***

Michael feels nervous around Calum the next day, which is a foreign and definitely unwanted feeling. He’s never nervous around Calum. The only other time he’s felt something similar to this was just before he told him he was bi, which actually kind of eases Michael’s anxiety, since Calum’s response to that was a “Me too, bro” and a high five. Maybe this will turn out the same way. Except with more kissing and less high fives.

 

The interview they did today passed in a blur, Michael vaguely remembers weird hats and him making a lot of bad innuendos, but it’s left Calum cheery and more energetic than lethargic, which some of the interviews they’ve done before have. He knows Calum struggles to talk in interviews sometimes, gets shy or not sure of himself, but he was pretty involved in this one, which is a good thing.

 

They’re hanging out around the back of the building, waiting for a car to come and take them back to their hotel. Calum and Ashton are playing some weird hand slapping game that Michael’s pretty sure they just made up, and Luke’s laughing his ass off like he always does when Ashton does anything that’s remotely amusing.

 

It takes five minutes for Michael to amp up the courage to ask Calum if they can talk alone, and Ashton just shoots him a knowing look before tugging Luke away to ‘investigate a weird looking rock’.

 

There’s a frown on Calum’s face once they’ve gone, but it’s more out of confusion than anything. “What’s this about?”

 

“It’s nothing bad.” Michael assures him quickly, and Calum’s expression grows a bit more placid. “I was just wondering-well, I saw this restaurant in town that looked really nice, and one of my friends has recommended it before and I wanted to know if you wanted to go to it. With me. Tonight.”

 

“Sounds great.” Calum replies. “Is anyone else coming?”

 

Michael panics a bit. “No, it’s just us. Luke said something about skyping his family, and Ashton-I don’t know what Ashton’s doing. Weird Ashton things.”

 

Calum smiles. “Cool.”

 

“Cool.”

 

There’s a bit of awkward silence, which is thankfully interrupted by their car arrived, and Ashton’s loud laughter as he approaches. The car ride back goes relatively smoothly as well, until Michael points out the restaurant that they’re going to, and Luke asks why he wasn’t invited.

 

“I thought you said you were skyping your parents.” Michael says through slightly gritted teeth, while Ashton pinches his thigh, making Luke shriek.

 

“Ow, what did you-oh.” Luke’s eyes swivel between Calum and Michael for a bit. “No, yeah, I am skyping my parents. That is a thing. Which is happening. Definitely.”

 

Calum is surprisingly unfazed by the entire thing, and simply plugs his earphones into his phone before offering Michael one, because that’s what they usually do. Michael accepts it, and tries to focus on the intro of The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver instead of the weird looks both Luke and Ashton are giving him.

***

Michael ends up bursting into Luke’s room later anyway, after he’s made reservations at the restaurant, interrupting what looks like a Spongebob marathon. Michael really needs to have a talk with him about his unhealthy obsession with that show.

 

“Okay, so I might have asked out Calum, and I just made reservations so now it’s technically official, but I don’t even know if he thinks it’s a date and now I’m freaking out and oh god what do I-“

 

“Mike.” Luke says, rolling off his bed and putting a hand on Michaels shoulder. “Calm down.”

 

“I want to, but then I keep imagining the worst things that could happen and suddenly I’m not so calm!”

 

“It’s going to be fine, okay? What did you even say to him?”

 

“I asked if he wanted to have dinner with me at this place that I saw.”

 

“And? What did he say?”

 

“Well, he said yes, but then he asked if anyone else was going. Does that mean he wanted other people to go? Did he think this was just a friendly dinner?”

 

Luke chuckles softly. “Dude, he was probably trying to see if this was a friendly dinner. If you’d invited other people, it wouldn’t have been a date. The fact that you didn’t makes it one. Or at least I think it does.” Michael’s reminded suddenly why he tends to go to Ashton for advice out of anyone. “Anyway, that doesn’t matter! If you’re so stressed about it, why not just ask him?”

 

Michael just glares, and Luke sighs. “Look man, I’m not sure what to tell you. You want my opinion? This date is going to go fine, you guys will get together and eventually get married with two children and a dog.”

 

“It’s a bit weird that you’ve thought that far ahead.”

 

“Just relax, okay? Everything’s going to be great.”

 

They end up binge watching Parks and Recreation until it’s time for Michael to get ready, which Luke insists on helping with because “No, Michael, that shirt has holes in it you cannot wear it.” He looks surprisingly good by the end, and his hair is even cooperating, which is mildly alarming. Luke shoves him out the door with a proud wave. Michael pulls the finger at him.

 

He is, of course, completely blown away by Calum when he sees him.

 

It’s not like it’s anything special, just a shirt and jeans that are miraculously not ripped, but Michael’s heart is still pounding a little too fast and loud for his liking. He tells Calum he looks good as they walk down the street, given the restaurant is only a few blocks away, and the streetlamps aren’t the best lighting but Michael is pretty sure Calum blushes as his gaze drops to the ground and he compliments Michael back.

 

Michael looks around after they’re seated and it is a truly nice place, not too large or loud or extravagant, which is what he wanted. He glances at Calum while he checks out the menu, lamenting the fact that they can’t buy alcohol, and flushes hot when Calum catches him looking at one point.

 

They order, Michael gets steak and Calum some odd pasta dish, and Michael is halfway through telling a story about the time he accidentally threw a pillow at a fan who approached him in Target when Calum asks: “Is this a date?”

 

Michael stops talking abruptly, and he knows his eyes are wide as saucers.

 

“I mean, you asked me out to a nice restaurant, by myself, and I know that you can go out to dinner with friends but I just-I wanted to know. I _needed_ to know.”

 

“Would you be upset if it was?”

 

“No!” Calum insists, loudly enough that some of the people at the table next to them look over. “No.” He continues, voice quieter this time. “I want it to be one. I just didn’t know if you did.”

 

“Oh.” Michael says, as if his world hasn’t just flipped upside down. “That’s-that’s good. That’s what this is. A date. We’re on a date.”

 

Calum smiles, big and bright, and oh god Michael is so, so fucked. He grabs Michael’s hand which is resting on the table, and they just sit there and smile at each other until their food arrives, which is all kinds of gross and sappy. Michael loves it.

 

He also loves it when he gets to back Calum against the door to his hotel room later and kiss him, slow and sweet, one hand cupping his jaw gently, the other on his waist. Calum buries his head into the crook of Michael’s neck afterwards, whispers, “I can’t believe this is actually happening.” The feeling of his lips on Michael’s neck makes him weak, sends shivers down his spine which Calum clearly notices as he can feel him grin against his skin, kissing it softly a few times before nipping at it lightly with his teeth. It’s at that point that Michael deems their situation too inappropriate for the hallway, and Calum pulls him into his room, slamming the door shut behind them.

 

He wakes the next morning with Calum pressed against his back and one arm around his waist and sunlight streaming through the windows since they were a bit too preoccupied last night to shut the curtains, and he knows it’s all kinds of cheesy and stereotypical, but there is really no place Michael would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> you know the jam please do the liking and the commenting thing i really appreciate it!! ur all lovely i hope you have a great day!!


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